


Moving Forward

by geassevoker



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Closure, Gen, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-05-20
Packaged: 2018-11-02 20:56:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10952580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geassevoker/pseuds/geassevoker
Summary: It's the last day before he departs from Tokyo, but Akira still has one regret.Spoilers to the end of the game.





	Moving Forward

It's a somber occasion, yet the day goes on just like any other. Akira rotates his shoulder slightly as he walks down Central Street for what would be the last time for a while. The citizens of Tokyo are bustling about, each with their own paths in life and going on with their day. 

He's run into countless number of friends, all wishing him farewells and thanking him from the bottom of their heart on their new view in life. They give him parting gifts, something to remember them by. Akira smiles as he accepts each one, his heart swelling with bittersweet emotions.

When the day winds down and Leblanc is quiet save for the one customer left and the television droning on about the new Prime Minister, Akira sits at the bar and revels in the calm. There is no more Metaverse. He can live his life however he pleases, without the metaphorical chains of society holding him back.

"Want some coffee?" Sojiro asks as he escorts the last customer and cleans up. "Or maybe some curry?"

Akira gives him a small smile and shakes his head. "I'm not that hungry right now."

Sojiro stares at him with concern in his eyes, but scoffs to himself. "Alright, kid. Just in case, I left you the ingredients in the fridge. I gotta get home to Futaba and make sure she isn't getting in any more trouble."

And with that, the older gentleman grabs his coat and hat and walks out the door. Its bell chimes melodically as the door shuts behind Sojiro. He flips the sign over to closed and gives Akira a wave as he leaves.

Morgana isn't here. Said something about wanting to be with Futaba and Haru today so they can pamper him before he leaves too. All his friends are at home and he has no plans to ask them to come over.

Friends...

He reaches for his notebook stowed away in his pockets and sits it down on the counter. He has notes of everything he's done in vague details in there: his activities, the chronicling of his year here. Even the time he's spent with the various people in this city, though their names are omitted to give them their privacy.

He stands up and goes behind the counter. He starts the coffee press, preparing the Leblanc special one last time before he leaves. The motions are practiced, efficient in the task at hand. In five minutes, he brews a perfect batch of coffee.

And then Akira brings out two clean white mugs and pour out a respectable amount in each one. He sits back down in his seat and moves the other cup to the seat next to him.

"I wished I had done more for you," he starts with a whisper. He wraps his hands around the mug and stares at the depths of his drink. "If I had done something sooner...you wouldn't have gone down the path you did. I've been thinking about it for the past three months."

_'If only we had met a few years earlier...'_

His words are still in Akira's head, his dreams a constant replay of the helplessness Akira felt that day. Watching the door slam shut, feeling dread sink deep in his heart, hearing Akechi's last words spoken with such sorrow and conviction. He always jolts awake at just the moment the gunshots echoes. The two months spent in juvenile hall has done nothing to alleviate these dreams and in fact, makes it exceptionally difficult to sleep even now.

"I wonder if you were still here, what would you have done for my last day?" Akira takes a sip of the warm coffee. "Everyone gave me something to remember them by, so I wonder what you would have given me?"

_'How could criminal trash that lives in an attic...have everything...'_

He breathes in deep to clear his thoughts, think about what he wants to say to the ghost of a friend. "I'm conflicted. You tried to kill me multiple times and almost succeeded. You wanted me to fail and I think I should hate you."

_'I feel such a sense of bliss and comfort when I'm here.'_

"But then I think about you sitting in this seat next to me, staring at your phone or doing some paperwork and you make this soft smile like you've never known this kind of peace existed and it hurts." Akira's chest constricts, a sign that his emotions are getting the best of him, but he keeps going.

"You've had a rough life, rougher than a lot of people. I'm not going to sit here and use that as your excuse for murdering people, but adults twisted and molded the pain in your heart into something far worse. You...damn it, Akechi. In the end, I don't know what you would have done if I had intervened earlier, but it would have been better than sitting here with regrets and a cold cup of coffee beside me with no one to drink it."

His own cup is only halfway done and just as cold. A tear slips down his cheeks and falls into his drink. "I avenged you, but you were still my friend. I only wanted to get back at the adults who abused their power, but I didn't think we'd ever lose someone on the way to that goal."

And it's true. The Phantom Thieves has gone through a lot, saving people from harm. They've brushed shoulders with Death (both figuratively and literally) and they've always come out on top. Seven palaces in, seven months of fighting through the darkest dredges of the human consciousness. It would have been hard not to assume they were invincible after the hardships they endured.

And then November happened. Their plan almost ended in complete failure, thanks to the police and their interrogation. Akira remembers being afraid for his life, not being able to recall anything about the plan up until the very last second.

And then December...to say nothing of that month. 

Akira wipes away the tear that threatens to fall from his eyes. "Akechi Goro...I failed you. I helped eighteen other people with the troubles in their life. I helped save otherworldly beings from their confinement. I even saved the whole of Tokyo from being trapped in their complacency. Yet, I did next to nothing in figuring out why you were doing what you did until it was too late."

He sighs, the exhaustion finally creeping in after such a long day. He rises from his seat and picks up after himself, collecting the still-full mug as well as his own and putting them away in the sink. After rinsing them out, he shuts the water off and stares at the swirl of water going down the drain.

"I couldn't do anything for you, but I promise you, I'll make sure no child gets treated the way you did." He reaches over the counter to pick up his notebook and slide it back into his pocket. "It's the least I could do for you."

He considers handing over the notebook to Sojiro for a brief moment. It wouldn't really be a necessity to keep around and it's just a journal of his frantic life over the past year.

"Akechi Goro," Akira says with conviction and fondness. "You were a special individual. You won't be forgotten. Not as long as I keep you in my memory."

And just as quickly, Akira makes up his mind. He goes upstairs to the attic and stows away the notebook in his luggage. He isn't going to hand this over, this physical memory he has of the boy. Everyone else has given him a part of themselves, so why not keep this to himself?

If Morgana notices anything different about him when he paws at the window to be let in, he doesn't say. It's Akira's secret, so just let him be a little selfish. Just this once.

A new start is just over the horizon and he'll make sure to remember everyone that helped him.

**Author's Note:**

> This came about after beating the game and wondering about Akechi. I personally subscribe to the idea he's alive, but for this particular fic, sweet glasses nerd baby doesn't know that.
> 
> I felt kind of bad that no one remembered Akechi after what he did, so here I am.
> 
> I wrote this with no intention of shipping or anything like that. Thank you for reading this!


End file.
